Post Up: Back At It

The Celtics started a new streak behind a masterful performance from Kyrie Irving.

Two nights after losing their 16-game winning streak, the Celtics took out their frustration on the Magic in a game that wasn’t even as close as the final score indicated. Boston scored 73 points in the first half and led by 26 at the break. Kyrie Irving had 30 to lead the Celtics, including a 10-10 performance from the line. He also did this:

No Magic player had more than 14 points (Jonathan Simmons off the bench), while Nikola Vucevic had a double-double with 12-and-11.

Trail Blazers 127 (11-8), Nets 125 (6-12)

Portland won the lone afternoon game on Friday in a thrilling finish. Jusuf Nurkic made a layup, plus the foul, with 27 seconds to go to break a 123-123 tie for what ended up being the game-winner. Nurkic finished with 29 points and 15 rebounds, to go with Damian Lillard’s team-high 34. The Trail Blazers ended the game with a 12-4 run, turning a 121-115 deficit into their third win in four games. Spencer Dinwiddie had 23 to lead the Nets. In a statistical oddity, both teams shot 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three, and 71.4 percent from the line.

The Knicks led by 15 after one quarter, but the Hawks stormed back behind 26 points from Dennis Schroder (11-18 FG) and six players in double-figures. On the other end, Atlanta forced 20 Knicks turnovers. Kristaps Porzingis had 28 to lead New York in scoring, while Jarrett Jack had 10 points and 14 assists.

LeBron James (27 points, 16 rebounds, 13 assists) clinched a triple-double seemingly in the blink of an eye, and kept going from there to lead Cleveland to its seventh-straight win. JR Smith gave the Cavs the lead on a free throw with 48 seconds left, and they held on thanks to a strong defensive stand in the final seconds. The Hornets had a shot to win it, but James would not give Kemba Walker a good look, forcing him to give up the ball. Jeremy Lamb then missed a long three and Walker’s prayer at the buzzer fell way short.

Wayne Ellington scored 21 points and hit six threes off the bench as the Heat evened up their record with a 12-point win. Goran Dragic added five threes and 20 points of his own, as the Heat hit 19 for the game. The Timberwolves were led by a trio of players — Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Jimmy Butler — who each scored 18.

Pistons 99 (12-6), Thunder 98 (8-10)

Russell Westbrook missed a three in the final seconds as the Pistons came back from 15 down to beat the Thunder in Oklahoma City. Andre Drummond had 17 points and 14 rebounds for Detroit, while Westbrook had his typical triple-double (27 points, 11 assists, 11 rebounds) for the Thunder. The Pistons trailed by 10 at the half, and it would have been worse had Ish Smith not connected from three-quarters court:

Lance Stephenson scored 13 of his 18 points in the final five minutes of the game to lift the Pacers to their fifth-straight win. Fred VanVleet had a shot to tie it for the Raptors, but his three-point attempted missed at the buzzer. Victor Oladipo had 21 points to lead the Pacers and Kyle Lowry had 24 for Toronto.

Pelicans 115 (11-8), Suns 91 (7-13)

Anthony Davis had 23 points and nine rebounds, and DeMarcus Cousins had 19-10-and-6 for the Pelicans in their blowout win. The Suns shot under 40 percent for the game and made just two of 20 three-point attempts. TJ Warren led the way for Phoenix with 18 points on 7-14 shooting. The Pelicans have now won three in a row and five out of seven.

A 45-point second quarter was all the Warriors needed to put the Bulls away before halftime. Steph Curry had 33 points, 31 coming in the first half as his services were hardly needed after that. Klay Thompson had 29 more as the Warriors shot 58 percent for the game, 44 percent from three, and went a perfect 21-21 from the line. Jerian Grant led the Bulls with 21 points.